Tales and legends of smoky drams, mystical peats and seducing waters. I blog in English and Finnish from now on.

Thursday, July 3, 2014

Johnnie Walker Green Label 15YO 43%

Johnnie Walker has had it’s downsides (Red Label) and good moments (Double Black) with me. Thanks to a friend, I got a sample of Green Label for me to try on. Again, getting the information from the net, Wikipedia article tells something about this dram. Green Label is a vatting of primarily four different Scottish malts. Most of the dram should be made of Talisker, Linkwood, Cragganmore and Caol Ila. Each of those malts are matured for a minimum of 15 years. Too bad I didn’t have any other Johnnie Walkers on my shelf this time, it would have been interesting to compare some different editions.

The nose is pleasant, but lacks anything special. There are a general whisky scents that consist of fruits, some smoke and sweetness. The first sip provides an interesting experience. First thing to flash in my thoughts, is the unpurity. There are familiar tastes, but all mixed as one. There is no strong body, nor any dashing character. In the end the bitterness is strongly present, while other tastes fade away rapidly.

On a second mouthful, there are more oiliness present. Talisker storming the seas with peppers, Caol Ila salts and smokiness require that the sip is a larger one. This one needs more quantity to provide more tastes. However, in the end the result is the same.

If I were to give point, I would not rate this one too high. This is a nice dram to drinking for sure. It would be nice to empty half a bottle of this with a friend or two, but it would not be about tasting. If using this in a tasting, it would provide an interesting contrast to single malts.
Since the last mouthful and writing parts of this article, the bitterness finally goes away and lefts Talisker and Caol Ila much more present. Pepper and smoke will remain in the aftertaste for a much longer time than I originally thought.